Report: Mediators propose 5-7-year truce, complete IDF pullout from Gaza, hostages-for-prisoners swap

Egypt and Qatar, the mediators in the Israel-Hamas negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal, have made a new proposal for a yearslong truce and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza alongside a hostages-for-prisoners swap, the BBC cites a senior Palestinian official familiar with the talks as saying.

The reported offer includes a ceasefire of between five and seven years, a formal end to the war, a complete IDF pullout from Gaza, and the release of “all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.”

The report doesn’t say whether the remaining non-Israeli hostages — two who are believed alive, a Thai and a Nepalese, and the bodies of two Thais and a Tanzanian — would also be freed.

The Palestinian source is cited as saying that Hamas has expressed willingness to cede control of the Strip to any agreed Palestinian entity, whether the Palestinian Authority or a newly formed administrative body. The official says the mediation effort is serious and that the terror group has shown “unprecedented flexibility.”

The British broadcaster says Israel hasn’t commented on the plan, and that a senior Hamas delegation will head to Cairo for consultations.